Posted - 17 Dec 2012 : 12:00:24 AM I bought a cd yesterday full of old Christmas songs, which took me back to the "Good Cold Days" of Christmases past - Christmas Alphabet, by Dickie Valentine. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, When Santa got stuck in the Chimney, The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot, to name but a few. I get soooooo fed up of hearing Slade and Wizzard blaring out of constantly in the run up to Christmas, it was nice to take a wee walk down memory lane. My late mum's favourite Christmas song was Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, as she said it reminded her of the days when they were really hard up, but always managed to make Christmas day special, without having to spend a lot of money. Does anyone remember, back in the 50's, of a song about "Davy Crockett helping Santa Claus". I know it's not a figment of my imagination. I remember one Christmas when practically every boy in our street, including my two brothers, got Davy Crockett hats from Santa!

Posted - 23 Dec 2012 : 11:30:37 PM I was looking through the television schedules for Christmas day, and really wasnt impressed. The Christmas day programmes of yesteryear didnt feature mainly films, but included Billy Smart's Circus, Disneytime, Max Bygraves visiting kids in hospital and dishing out gifts and playing requests, and Christmas Night with the Stars, a mixture of singing, dancing and comedy. All great entertainment and very innocent. Of course, we kids were all too busy playing with our board games, reading our annuals and eating our way through the bluebird toffees and selection boxes to pay much attention. There was always a big film on, and it was usually something to be shown for the first time on tv, so was worth waiting for - no videos/dvd/sky plus back then, so if you missed it, you had to wait forever for it to be shown again, or perhaps see it at the ABC Minors.

Posted - 31 Dec 2012 : 5:44:01 PM Im sitting here on Hogmanay thinking back to my childhood days, when Hogmanay was a much anticipated event in our house, and in those of our neighbours. My mum used to spend the day cleaning and polishing the surrounds (nae fitted carpets then)and the lobby, and the smell of Mansion Rose floor polish prevailed! The messages were delivered about tea time, and included the annual purchase of sultana cake, madeira cake, shortie, cuddle-ma-deerie or raspberry cordial. In later years the boat was pushed out to include extra cheese and pineapple chunks for the awfy posh combination on a cocktail stick. There was never any alcohol in our house at any other time of the year, and it seemed like a bottle of whiskey went a long way back then, as well as the dozen or so Whitbreads screw-tops or wee bottles of Piper Export. There was also a bottle of sherry for the ladies, and one year my granny produced some home made advocaat,and everybody was treated to a "Snowball". Sometimes a few bottles of Babycham were included in the array of drinks (remember the telly advert "I'd love a Babycham" with the little Bambi bouncing about the screen turning mediocre drinks into sparkling perry). We kids had to go to bed as usual, but were always woken by the arrival of the folk from upstairs just after midnight. We were then allowed to get up and listen to the sing song which inevitably got going. I can still hear those old songs - "Twelve and a tanner a bottle" the party piece of the mannie upstairs, and "My ain Folk" which was guaranteed to have my mum in tears, as did "Auld Scotch Mither Mine". There was never any trouble, and nobody got the worse for wear. Great, great memories. Of course, in later years, we were allowed to go to the Steeple and then on to "First Fit" round our pals' houses, and again, there was only good-natured fun from the huge crowds. I cant recall so much as a window being broken then. Ah well, I suppose it'll be the telly (rubbish as usual) and then a wee dram at the bells, before bed. Happy New Year to everyone, when it comes!!! Keep posting.

Posted - 31 Dec 2012 : 5:58:47 PM yep this was the busiest day of the year for me I was the message boy at Alec Law's We would take the van out that day and just go for it As far away as Ness drive and up and down the stairs at Arlie crescent and Strathmore avenue(phew) Big tips usually about ten bob a peice from the wifies Around 8pm we would be done and sit down through the back with fish n chips and a mug of tea all round and a big pooch o change

Posted - 31 Dec 2012 : 6:02:18 PM My mum usually got her order fae "Eck Law's" when he had his shop at the fit of the "Crafty" and into Lillie's Wynd. You probably delivered our Hogmanay cornucopia! Unlikely you would have got ten bob though!

Posted - 05 Dec 2018 : 6:22:07 PM Iíve just been reading through these post about Christmases in days gone by. Hopefully some soul might do likewise and we can get some discussions going! Come on, do a little Christmas Shoppie-Ing

Posted - 06 Dec 2018 : 08:41:21 AM You'll be fed up hearing about one of my favourite Xmas memories (roughly 1959/62). That was of the big drive in Fleming's Millgate back shop, on the two or three evenings - into the night even - before Xmas, to get all the poultry orders prepared for customers to collect at the last minute. No frozen back then and few fridges to hold your annual chicken - I don't recall many (if any) turkeys but there were pheasants too. It was like a production line in a shed out the back. Dispatch, pluck, clean and truss. As ever in Flemings, it was a laugh a minute in that company ("a line of Trained Smart Mouths" - Bri Dickson, The Butcher's Boy). Weird, but this gory process was such a big part of my build up my Xmas - like an office party!

My Dad got a bottle of Port from Francis Webster's - I think the only alcohol that entered the house back then. And he would have been given a small wooden crate of pears from the boss's, Wm Webster's, farm in Canada about October time, which was put under the bed until the festive season. They were by then so big and juicy that we spread towels over the floor before biting into them - what a treat! So unlike our native pears. I reckon that back in the 50's, he got a half-day on Xmas Day.

Posted - 06 Dec 2018 : 09:18:21 AM Sorry Pete, I meant to give you a Thumbs Up for the last post - slippy digit! You should get bonus points for even bothering to post!! I have heard your story before, but itís worth a second outing. Now, how about you and The Dicko kid jumping on the bandwagon - or perhaps the old message bikes - and putting your memories on paper. Iím sure it would be a best seller ( Iíd buy one). It could be a fictitious work, based on fact, a bit like The Great Race, or just a compilation of your stories. Iím sure other lads could contribute. Boys nowadays would be hard pushed to carry out the deliveries like you lads did. Even if you donít do it, at least Iíve posted another wee bit of whimsy.

Posted - 06 Dec 2018 : 9:20:18 PM Iíve been at it for years Wilma, writing my memoirs that is. A fair few chapters so far, a quick tally shows 157 illustrated pages and 67,000 words, with loads more to go Ė far more than enough to bore the socks off just about everyone in the world. However, this is destined for family consumption only. The prologue says that it was only when I retired that I started to think properly about my ancestry Ė probably par for the course for us auld yins - and I was really shocked when I realized how little I knew of my own parentsí lives before I was born. And of my grandparents, virtually nothing, not even first name or occupation in one case. A bit of internet research and finding previously unknown cousins has filled in a few gaps, but the episode made me think of documenting my own life. I probably need to jot stuff down soon anyway before it evaporates away from my addled brain. I find a great deal has already. I do not think for a moment that any family around at the moment would be the slightest bit interested in reading the ravings of the oldest living survivor of the family, but I had this wild notion that the grandchild of our grandson (born 2003) might wonder, when he/she reaches retirement at the age of about 90 in around 2140, might suddenly also be gripped like me by the notion of learning what his/her ancestors did back in the dark ages of the 20th century. He/she is my target audience.

But fear not, although the Arbroath bit covers some 40 pages so far, the majority of this is only what I have already aired in The Shoppie or Red Lichties, otherwise itís all ME, ME, ME!, Sadly I canít really think of any more that I could contribute to an extended ďButchers BoyĒ Ė I think Iím all used up in the anecdotes department (and photos!), that's why I repeat myself - see Flemings back shop above! But Bri, being younger, will still have stories left I'm sure.

Posted - 06 Dec 2018 : 10:39:04 PM The book could be titled ďa load of TripeĒ - Offal adventures of a Butchers Boy. A collection of blood- curdling tales from the butchers back shops, featuring The Dicko Kid and his buckled bone shaker, and his revelations about living with tripe burn on his legs. . Soshy Kev reveals how he beat the field to win The Great Race (and how he refused a large sum to become a mannequin in Hepworthís window). His life now as curator of the Message Bike museum, and the fortune he inherited. Guthrie Gaz and his battle of wits with Cargill the Butcher, and his attempts to patent a mince and sausage shaped letterbox. William (Dracula) Smith recalls the day he kicked his buckets on the West Port, causing a local wifie to go totally berserk thinking she was facing an axe murderer. A foreword by Fleming the Butcher himself is sure to take the reader on a super slide through the sawdust of years gone by in the butcherís shops. ďThe biggest pile of mince Iíve ever encounteredĒ quoted Mr Fleming, making no bones about it.

Who knows, it might be the biggest seller since The Life of Pi(e). Iíd steak my life on it.

Posted - 07 Dec 2018 : 08:42:27 AM See where your'e coming from Wilma - not got that kind of imagination, but you definitely seem to have a grip on it. This is a project for you, with added verse! There's room for a Carnoustie for another J K Rowling. And don't forget Raving Roberton on his Archibald Strachan, Nashville Skyline Special message bike.

Posted - 07 Dec 2018 : 09:43:35 AM Itís quite a daunting task putting a book together. If it was just a case of handing all your manuscripts to a publisher and hey presto, thereís a book, it would be worth doing. I know, from my own poem book printing, and talking to .alan Gyles, thereís a lot of work, and money involved to see it through. Maybe one day....... hope abrian Dickson reads these last few posts. Might get something going again.